Wii U Shipping Without Nintendo TVii

If you're planning to pick up a Wii U this weekend, we're sad to say that it's going to be launching without one highly anticipated feature. Nintendo confirmed today that the Wii U won't have Nintendo TVii at launch, as the service has been pushed back to sometime in December. The good news is that December is right around the corner, but the bad news is that Nintendo didn't give a specific launch date for Nintendo TVii.

This is bound to sting for some Wii U early adopters, as Nintendo had been saying that Nintendo TVii would be available at launch up until today. In fact, it was just last week that Nintendo was saying TVii would be added in a launch day patch, but now that's no longer the case. Nintendo TVii, as many of you know, serves as something of a TV hub, giving you access to things like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video. You can also access content stored on your TiVo DVR and you can even watch live TV channels using the service.

It doesn't sound bad at all, but unfortunately it will have to wait. This bummer of an announcement comes with a bit of good news for Netflix subscribers though, as Netflix tells Engadget that it will have its Wii U app ready to go on launch day. However, it also said that it wouldn't be joining Nintendo TVii until quarter 1, which suggests its going to miss the roll out of Nintendo TVii next month.

This isn't the first time Nintendo has shipped hardware without promised features, as it did the same exact thing with the 3DS. When the 3DS launched in March 2011, it was missing the eShop, which wasn't added until early June. It's a shame to hear that Nintendo TVii won't be on the Wii U at launch as promised, but at least it will be coming to consoles relatively soon. What do you think? Is no Nintendo TVii at launch a dealbreaker?